Plus Three
by Lahdolphin
Summary: Marui's a famous author suffering from writer's block and Niou's a single dad with no where to go. Things happen and somehow, it all turns out okay.


**Plus Three**

Marui isn't quite sure how he feels when he opens the door to his loft and sees Niou standing there with a diaper bag and three kids at his hip. He agreed to the arrangement—it was the least he could do for his old friend, after all—but seeing Niou and his little mini-humans makes him wonder if it was a good idea.

"Yo," Niou says. He looks far too young to be thirty six, a father of three, and have white hair. Marui takes the bags on the floor by the kids' feet and brings them inside, hoping Niou and his kids follow. They do. Marui puts the bags next to the sofa.

"This is Junko; she's eight and a half," Niou says, stressing the half and placing a hand on his eldest child's head. Junko has her father's weird white hair and brown eyes, and looks at Marui with a curious expression.

"This one's Ayumu; he turned six last week," Niou says. Ayumu has his mother's brown hair but his father's blue eyes. He has a teddy bear held tightly against his chest and is hiding behind Niou's legs.

"Is he going to be our new mommy?" Ayumu asks.

"Boys can't be mommies," Junko says.

"And this is Kyou; twelve months and two weeks," Niou says, readjusting the child in his arms. Kyou has white hair and big blue eyes.

"Kids, say hello to Marui," Niou says. "Or do you want them to call you Bunta? I'm calling you whatever they call you."

"Um, Bunta, I guess," Marui says. He squats in front of Junko and Ayumu, and glances up at Kyou who is hitting Niou in the chest. "Hello there. Nice to meet you, Jun."

"It's Junko," she says.

"No nicknames, add the half year, and no lactose," Niou says with a sigh. Junko pouts at him and Niou laughs.

Marui doesn't expect it, but being a father fit Niou. He hasn't seen the man for several years due to work and the fact that Niou's wife likes to poop 'em out one after another, but seeing Niou with his group of kids is nice.

"Are there anymore bags?" Marui asks as he stands back up and nearly trips over the ones on the floor. Junko is holding a large bag, Ayumu has a backpack, and Niou has several bags over his shoulder like a professional dad.

"No."

"Well, this is the living room," Marui says, gesturing around. It isn't much—an open room with wooden floors and unused sofas in front of an equally unused television. "And that's the kitchen," he says, pointing to the open kitchen.

"Dining room?" Niou asks.

"No." Marui never has enough people over to need a dining room. "There's a counter with some barstools."

Niou makes a noise in the back of his throat. Marui isn't sure whether that's good or bad. He figures it doesn't matter. Niou is staying with him regardless of whether or not he's happy with Marui's shabby loft.

"Where's my room?" Junko asks.

"We talked about this, Junko," Niou says. "You may have to share a room with your brother. I don't know how many rooms or..."

Niou frowns at the sad expression that appears on his daughter's face.

"It's, um, well"—Marui rubs the back of his head awkwardly—"it's up to you guys. My office and bedroom are upstairs, and I only I have one guest room, but there's an empty room that I don't use and a room that used to be my office that's empty now. Your kids could have their own rooms, minus the baby."

Marui curses himself for not knowing their names. Junko, Ay-something, and Marui has no idea what the baby's (or is that a toddler?) name even starts with. It's been less than ten minutes and he's already forgotten. He's going to have to ask Niou when they're alone.

"The rooms are all down that hall," Marui says. "There aren't beds yet..."

"It's okay. Hiroshi and I have it all worked out," Niou says.

"There's a bathroom attached to the guest room and another in the hall." Marui looks at the baby in Niou's arms. Kyou, that's its name. "Jackal came in last week and added those baby-proofing things you sent over. They're not upstairs though. Actually, just don't come upstairs?"

"Your house," Niou grumbles. Junko tugs at his pant leg and he smiles down at her. "Yes? Do you need to use the bathroom? Bunta just told you where they were."

"Ayumu does," she says.

"Take him," Niou says. Marui wonders if six year olds need to be taken to the bathroom, but when he sees Ayumu step out from behind Niou he realizes that _this_ six year old did.

"Oh," Marui says dumbly. Ayumu is wearing shorts and where his left leg should be is some type of white-gray contraption that vaguely resembles a leg. It starts at his knee and doesn't seem to want to listen to him when he walks.

"It's not the one he usually has," Niou says as the two go down the hall. Ayumu leans on Junko as he walks. "That's his travel leg. It's a bit old so he limps a little because it doesn't fit. His new one works a lot better. It's packed in one of the bags."

"Oh," Marui repeats. "I didn't know. Why—?"

"Born without it, but he still manages to run around the house." Kyou begins to roll around in Niou's arms. Niou drops the bags off his shoulders and swears softly, "Damn it, Kyou, calm down."

"Is he okay?"

"He's getting over the whole separation anxiety thing and feels the need to wander around every place we go to." Niou sighs in relief when he finds a better grip that keeps his child from squirming. "Hiroshi's bringing over his crib and a few other things I couldn't fit in the car. He said something about some crappy Ikea beds for the kids. Anything else I should know before Junko and Ayumu start to unpack to get to their toys?"

"Not really. Just the no going upstairs thing," Marui says.

"Okay." Niou begins to pick up the bags he had dropped and shoulder them again. "I want to unpack. I can help with lunch. I doubt you know how to make things for kids. Junko's lactose intolerant so I have to use special foods anyways."

"Yeah, sure. I'll be upstairs until then, I guess. If you need something then holler."

"One more thing," Niou says. "How do you feel about dogs?"

"What?"

.

In addition to three kids, Niou also has two dogs which Yagyuu bring over along with a crib, a few boxes with sharpie labels, and several bags of groceries. The first is a ten year old long-haired Collie named Tesla, and the other is five year old English Setter with tan spots named Aristotle. The dogs come up and begin to sniff Marui the moment Yagyuu lets go of their leashes.

Marui isn't sure if he likes dogs or not.

Junko takes the empty room and Ayumu claims the once-office. They don't have many possessions—a few clothes, a couple of toys, and a lot of crayon-drawings which they demand be tacked to the fridge. Marui agrees and puts them on his blank fridge. Niou says he unpacked his things in the guest room. Yagyuu leaves after helping set up the crib and beds.

Niou and his children sit down at the kitchen counter for lunch. Junko and Ayumu eat sandwiches with the crusts cut off and jam-made smilies on the inside made by their father. Niou sits in a chair in front of Kyou's feeding chair and tries to make his son eat whatever mush he's supposed to eat.

"Sorry about the dogs," Niou says as he whips Kyou's green chin. "Yoshiko doesn't want them and I didn't want to give them away. Your building allows pets."

"You say that like you did research," Marui says. He pokes at his chips and sandwich, not hungry. He's still trying to take in that he suddenly has six new housemates.

"I did." Niou frowns when his son won't open his mouth. "Come on, Kyou, you did this for Mommy and Uncle Hiroshi."

"Is Bunta gonna be our mommy?" Ayumu asks.

"You asked that already," Junko says.

"He is not going to be your mommy." Niou smiles victoriously when he gets Kyou to take another mouthful even though half of it ends up on the kid's face. "We're going to stay with Bunta until Daddy saves up enough money to buy us a new apartment."

Tesla and Aristotle slurp loudly from their dog bowls. Marui can live with the dogs.

.

Within a week the loft is covered in dog hair, half finished crayon drawings, toys that make him fall, and spit and mucus and a few other things he probably doesn't want to know about. Despite that, it's still a little too clean for having three kids and two dogs living there, and the dogs have warmed up to Marui more than the children have.

Marui comes down from his office to find Niou and his children sitting at the kitchen counter for dinner. He wonders if he should turn back and retreat to his room, but decides not to since it's his house and he's hungry.

"Kyou, _please_," Niou begs. He has a spoon of something orange but Kyou's mouth is sealed shut. Junko gets out of her chair and takes the spoon from her father, and Kyou's mouth opens.

"Looks like someone doesn't like Daddy," Marui says as he walks over. He takes a salad out of the fridge and sits next to Ayumu. "What's up, buddy?"

Ayumu does not answer him.

"Ayumu," Niou says. He keeps a careful eye on his daughter and youngest son, and keeps the other on his middle child. "You're supposed to answer when people ask you a question."

Ayumu looks at Marui, who smiles because he doesn't know what he's supposed to do, but the boy looks back at his meal just as quickly. "No," the boy says.

"_Ayumu_," Niou repeats.

"I don't wanna," Ayumu says. "I don't want to be here anymore."

Ayumu shoves away from the counter, jumps off of his stool, and runs to his room. Niou shouts at him to come back, but the six year old doesn't listen. Marui hears a door slam shut.

"Junko, go to your room," Niou says.

"But I want dessert."

"I'll bring you a pudding cup later. Just go."

Marui has known Niou for over twenty years, and it is still strange to hear Niou sound so defeated. He's heard Niou sound frustrated and upset, but never defeated. Junko runs off and once they can hear her door shut, Niou sighs.

"I'll help," Marui offers as he picks up Kyou's food spoon. Kyou wraps his little hand around its handle as Marui guides it to his mouth. "Good boy."

"He's not a dog."

"Open up. Ahhh—good boy," Marui repeats as Kyou takes another bite. The toddler takes hold of his hand so Marui wiggles his fingers for him to play with. He looks at Niou. "I don't think I've seen you smile for real since you got here."

Niou grins cynically. "What? Don't I look happy?"

"Can't tell. I've never been able to tell if you're happy or not. I've never been able to tell anything about you."

Niou reaches out and offers Kyou a finger from his hand, but the toddler does not take it and continues to play with Marui's fingers.

"Hiroshi says that Yoshiko's lawyer is talking custody again," Niou says. "She wants me tested for drugs, and she wants my co-workers to testify against me and say I'm a horrible father. Living here isn't helping my case. It's considered unstable."

"Oh."

Marui doesn't know much about what's going on, but he does know that Yoshiko is Niou's soon-to-be ex-wife; Yagyuu is helping Niou with the divorce pro bono. He also knows that the divorce case involves a lot of nasty things like adultery and child neglect with Yoshiko being in the fault. But she's a woman with a high paying job, and Niou's just a high school teacher who can't afford three kids, and she might get the kids.

Niou rubs his tired eyes. "I'm trying to get out of your hair. The quicker the better. I just have to save enough to rent a place."

Yoshiko also froze their shared bank account. Lucky for her she has a separate account in her name that they agreed was for the children, which she began to use the second she kicked Niou out a few months ago. Niou had lived with Yagyuu until it became too much of a burden (Yagyuu has a kid on the way and that house cannot fit that many people), which led Niou to Marui.

"It's fine," Marui says. "It's not like I'm working right now or anything."

"I thought you were working on a sequel."

"I am, but I can't."

Niou makes a vague noise in the back of his throat then says, "You think you could keep feeding him? I haven't eaten since this morning."

"Nice change of subject."

"Thanks." Niou gets a plate of cold chicken and sits back down, watching silently as Marui feeds his son. "Ayumu will warm up eventually. He doesn't really get what's going on. I think Junko does, at least a little. I heard her talking to Hiroshi about it when I was staying at his place."

"Did Yagyuu know about the dogs when you showed up at his door?" Marui asks, sending a teasing smile at his old friend.

"What did you want me to do with them? She hates them and I couldn't leave them at Hiroshi's. Junko loves those dogs more than she loves me."

"I think you just got burned by a child."

Niou huffs in a half-laugh. "Looks like Kyou likes you more than me too."

"Double burn."

Niou honestly laughs that time. He rests his head in his palm and smiles as Kyou dribbles food out onto his mouth. He reaches out, takes Kyou's small hand in his fingers, and bounces it. "He is a good boy," Niou says. "And I am happy. I still have them."

.

Niou talks about buying a table for the living room so he can teach the kids table manners. Marui wonders how Niou is certified to teach that (Marui can still remember a burping contest he had with Niou in high school), but says he'll think about it.

Marui takes the dogs for a walk and meets with Jackal at a nearby park where he is rewarded for his efforts with food from Jackal's restaurant. They sit at a picnic table and eat and play catch with the dogs as they catch up.

"And she just threw up everywhere," Marui says. "I thought she had to go to the hospital or something."

"If you knew she was lactose intolerant, why did you give her ice-cream?" Jackal asks.

"I thought she deserved some. She got a perfect on her spelling test. The kid's a genius. Niou said the school wanted to get her IQ tested."

The kids have been at Marui's for a little over a month, and Marui sometimes forgets that they will be leaving at some point. He wants Niou to get back on his feet and get his own place to raise his kids, but Marui's become attached to them, even if he's still on thin ice in their eyes.

Marui takes a tennis ball from Tesla's mouth and tosses it, watching as Aristotle breaks ahead to snatch the ball.

"How's the book coming?" Jackal asks.

"It's not," Marui says.

"Maybe you should just switch to a different story. You said you have a bunch of them, right? Just drop this one."

"I can't. It's stuck in my mind. I could write another idea, but it wouldn't be that good. My editor's off my ass at least."

"It'll come when it comes," Jackal says sagely. Marui's always liked that about Jackal. "I could look up some lactose free recipes for Junto."

"Junko," Marui corrects. "Aristotle, Tesla, get over here! That bird is not a toy!"

"How's Masaharu?" Jackal asks.

"He's still down about the whole thing. You know how he is."

"Can't blame him, though. His wife cheated on him and forgot about the kids because she was too busy screwing some other guy. You know how much he loves her. He's loved her since they first met. Then she just tossed him out of the house with their kids and dogs."

"How's Jackal Junior?" Marui asks.

"Hideki is fine," Jackal says. "When are you going to stop calling him that? He's twelve now and looks nothing like me."

"Don't care. He is Jackal Junior." Marui smiles when Jackal rolls his eyes.

At some point, everyone around Marui started getting married and having kids. Jackal has Hideki (Jackal Junior), Yagyuu has his first on the way (a girl Niou said one night), Sanada has six of the little humans, Yanagi is looking into adoption because his wife can't have any, and Yukimura has three girls who are monsters at tennis. Marui remembers hearing a rumor that Kirihara and his lover are thinking about getting married in America and getting one too.

"I think I missed the Kid Train," Marui says. He doesn't know why that makes him so sad all of the sudden. "And the Marriage Train."

"And the Good Looks Train, but you missed that a _long_ time ago." Marui snaps back a bad insult and Jackal says, "And it's never too late. You've got enough god-kids or whatever you want to call them. You could form an army with all of our kids."

"But none of them are mine."

"You never wanted kids, did you?"

"Not really. I figured if I met someone, it'd just sort of happen, you know? Now I know Junko and Ayumu and Kyou, and it's making me baby crazy."

"You haven't had a boyfriend since that guy have you?"

"Very specific."

"The one two years ago," Jackal clarifies. "He had a kid, right? You didn't go baby crazy and that kid loved you."

"Don't remind me. Breaking up with him was hard enough. Seeing that kid cry when we told him was worse."

Marui calls back Tesla and Aristotle, and says good-bye to Jackal. He leaves the park and bumps into Niou getting out of his car in the parking lot by the building he lives in—they live in, he corrects mentally.

"Just bringing them back," Marui says. The dogs bark at his side.

"Thanks. Hiroshi's watching the kids upstairs. I had to go to this weird store an hour away to get this ice-cream Junko can eat since now she seems to want it all the time." Niou fixes him a look and Marui smiles nervously.

.

Marui has his routine and Niou has his own. Five or six days a week, Niou wakes up at five in the morning to shower, then makes lunch for Junko and Ayumu and himself, packs Kyou's daycare bag, packs his work bag, begins to make breakfast, makes a mess while feeding Kyou, and showers and changes again. Add in arguing about brushing teeth and waking up, and Niou is out the door to drive Junko and Ayumu to school, Kyou to daycare, then go to work.

Marui's routine is much easier. He wakes up around the time Niou is burning something in the kitchen while making breakfast, and spends the rest of his day staring at his laptop or forcing out a few crappy passages which he'll delete the following day.

After tennis practice and kid pickup, Niou comes home and goes out to job with the dogs, leaving Marui with the kids. Junko and Ayumu do their homework, and Kyuu takes a few little steps by himself before he falls and begins to cry. He hushes the toddler with a funny looking stuffed frog.

"Do you guys need help with anything?" Marui asks. "I'm a genius, you know."

"I have to do a book report on any book I want," Junko says happily. She reaches into her bag and hands Marui the book. "I read it in one night and I loved it. It's about these kings in far off lands and moons and princesses in castles. It's be Suzuki Akira. I love him!"

"Uh, Junko," he says.

"Do you know the book?"

Marui smiles, hands her the book, and tells her to wait a minute and watch over Kyou. He runs up to his office, then picks up a stack of books his editor has given him over the years and returns to the living room.

"These are all by Suzuki Akira!" Junko says. "Do you like him?"

"Don't tell anyone, but Suzuki Akira is a pen-name."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Do you know him then?" Junko begins to pick up the books one-by-one to read the title and look at the cover. There's eleven books there, several of which have notes about being award-winning. "Bunta, do you?"

"It's _my _pen-name," Marui tells her. He pulls Kyou into his lap and the toddler hits the stuffed frog against his thighs.

"Nu-uh," Junko says.

"Uh-hu," Marui says.

Junko smiles and picks up _Bubblegum Kingdom_, then _Polar Bear Scar_, followed by _Communion with the Dead_. She stares at him in disbelief and Marui can't help but laugh.

"But I did research on him and I read that you haven't written a book in three years. Did something happen?" Junko asks.

Marui picks up the book on top of the stack, _Sky Island_, and sighs as he flips through the pages. "I can't write anymore," he says. "Some people call it writer's block, but mine hasn't gone away."

"Don't you like to write?"

"I love it more than anything in the world. I'm working on a sequel to this one"—he hands her the thickest one, _Songs to Jaguars_—"but I haven't made much progress."

"What's it about?" she asks.

"This boy loves this girl and invents these movies in his head about how he's going to save her and she'll fall in love with him. This book is about a movie he invents where the heroine is kidnapped by pirates and he saves her. And while he has these movies, he talks to the girl in real life and falls more in love."

"Does she love him back?"

"Hmm. That's what the sequel is! He's going to have another movie dream where she's this waitress at a bar. She gets involved with some bad things because of her boyfriend, and—"

"What in the world are you telling my daughter?" Niou says as he walks over. He's covered in sweat from his jog. Tesla and Aristotle are drinking water from their bowls near the kitchen. Niou looks at the stack of books. "Did she find out your pen-name? She loves you."

"You knew?" Junko asks. "Why didn't you tell me!"

"You never knew Bunta until recently. You've only gotten holiday cards from him." Niou sits down on the sofa next to Marui and takes Kyou from him. "Ayumu, you okay?"

Marui curses himself. He's forgotten about Ayumu. The boy is frowning at his homework. "Bunta said he would help then he started talking to Junko about books," he says.

"Let me see," Niou says and peers over Ayumu's shoulder. "Ah, math. I can help with that."

"Sorry Ayumu, I got carried away," Marui says as Niou crouches down to the floor with Kyou in his arms. Kyou takes a few steps, the crawls away to play with some nearby fabric blocks.

"He used to do it all the time in high school," Niou says. "He would spend an entire tennis practice writing on the cement with chalk because he'd forgotten his notebook. This problem, Ayumu?"

"Can you help me with my book report?" Junko asks Marui. "It's on _Distant Moons_."

Marui and Niou sit with the kids until its time to make dinner. As Niou makes something kid-friendly and boring, Marui tries to get Kyou to say his name.

It isn't until Junko is asking for copies of his books for bedtime stories does he realize that he's excited about writing. He spends the rest of the night and a good portion of the morning in his office writing the sequel to_ Songs to Jaguars_.

.

Two months into their shared living, the kids are in bed, and Niou is sitting on the sofa with a bottle of beer while he watches bad late night television. Tesla has his head on Niou's lap and Aristotle is asleep on the floor. Marui opens a bottle in the kitchen and sits next to him. He winces when he sits on one of Junko's toys but quickly readjusts.

"You don't usually drink," Marui comments. "Stuff with the divorce? If it's about getting out of here, don't worry about it. You're free to stay a while longer."

"Thanks," Niou grumbles, though Marui figures that's not what's on the father's mind. "You know those kids who were in the tennis club but they were horrible and other kids made fun of them?"

"Yeah."

"Ayumu wants to join a soccer team with some of his friends from school."

"Can't he run though?" Marui asks. He's seen that one-legged boy run through the loft to avoid brushing his teeth, and it is quite the sight to see Niou chase him. "And he's dominant on his—oh."

"His dominant leg is his only leg," Niou says. "People play soccer with prosthetics but not with the crappy one he has, and I can't afford a better one and his insurance certainly can't get him a better one. He couldn't kick and place his weight properly like the other kids."

Niou downs the rest of his beer and puts it onto the table next to three other empty bottles. Niou curses and rubs at his eyes with his palms.

"Sometimes I blame her for his leg," he says. By his tone, Marui can tell he means Yoshiko. "She smoked for awhile and sometimes I wonder if she smoked while she was pregnant with him, or if she went out and got drunk with that bastard and Ayumu doesn't have a leg because of it. Then I wonder if I stressed her about something and made it happen."

"Ayumu doesn't seem to mind it. It's all he's ever known, right?"

"It's not fair." Niou grits his teeth and clenches his jaw. "It's not fair. He doesn't deserve that. Junko doesn't deserve not being able to buy the books she likes, Ayumu doesn't deserve his crap prosthetic, and Kyou doesn't deserve a father who can't even fed him!"

Tesla jumps out of Niou's lap and flees the room, and is quickly followed by Aristotle. Niou steals Marui's bottle from his hand and takes a long swing.

"Dude, calm down, it's okay," Marui says. "Why don't you just let Ayumu join the team? He'll learn and if the other kids make fun of him, he'll beat the crap out of them. If he doesn't know how to beat the crap out of someone, I'll teach him to."

"I already signed him up for the damn team," Niou mutters. "They meet every Sunday at that park where you take the dogs. I couldn't sayno to him, not again."

"I've never heard you say no to him."

"You've never heard him ask if he can see his mother."

Marui shuts his mouth. "You want to drink by yourself and be miserable, or do you want me to go find a movie and order some pizza?"

"Pizza. I'll put it in their lunches tomorrow. Kids like cold pizza, right?"

"Everyone likes cold pizza."

"Even robots?" Niou says after a moment of pause.

"Even the ones programed to not like it end up liking it," Marui says and Niou cracks a smile. "I'll call in the pizza. And that's my beer so paws off."

.

"Bunta," Marui says. Kyou stares back at him. "Buuuunta," Marui repeats slowly.

"Are you harassing my kid?" Niou asks.

Marui is sitting in the guest room, though he's begun to just call it Niou's room, on the large bed with Kyou. Niou comes out of the shower in sweatpants and sits next to Marui in front of the toddler.

"Dad," Niou says. When he gets nothing, he tries other variations until one clicks and Kyou repeats it. "Papa. Daddy. Dada."

"Dada," Kyou says. Niou takes his hands and wiggles his arms and Kyou laughs. "Dada. Dada. Mama!"

"Mama?" Niou says. He furrows his brows, obviously not knowing who Kyou is referring to. Kyou obviously didn't mean Yoshiko. "Who's Mama? Me?"

Niou points to himself and Kyou says, "Dada!" Niou points to Marui. "Mama!"

"Not Mama," Marui says firmly. "Bunta. Bun-ta. Buuuunta."

Junko comes into the room and hops onto the bed next to her father. "Is he calling Bunta mom again?" she asks. "He was doing it the other day. He's so cute."

"I'm not mom," Marui says. "It's Bunta. B-U-N-T-A. "

"Just let him learn some words," Niou says. "All he knows are our names and random pieces of food. I think I heard him swear once, but I'm going to pretend that didn't happen. He usually just mumbles nonsense."

Niou lifts Kyou up to his feet and then lets go of him. Kyou stumbles a few steps forward before Niou catches him with a proud smile. Niou does it two more times before Kyou goes to Marui.

"Mama," Kyou says when Marui catches him.

"Not Mama," Marui says.

"Mama."

"Not Mama."

"Mama."

"Not Mama."

"You're arguing with a baby and you're losing," Niou says. Junko laughs and waves one of Kyou's toys so he walks to her.

.

Marui takes his next check and puts half of it towards a dining table for the living room. He buys a few chairs and spends a day putting it together so that it'll be done when Niou and the kids come home. He has three extra screws in the end and one of the chairs is a bit crooked, but it's more than what he had before.

Niou comes home later than usual, cursing about the weather forecast and unexpected soccer practices. Ayumu is covered in mud and runs off towards the showers looking happier than Marui has ever seen him. Junko runs off as well, shouting for Tesla and Aristotle. Niou puts Kyou's carrier on the dining table and sits down.

"Notice anything different?" Marui asks. He sits on the other side of the table and looks at Niou, who obviously doesn't want to play a guessing game. "Table?"

"You got a table," Niou says slowly. He pushes on it with his hands, tries to make it wobble, and checks for sharp corners. Marui smiles when it passes the man's inspection. "Thanks. It sounds stupid but they haven't had a table to sit at since Yoshiko kicked me out. Hiroshi had one, but only three people could sit there at once and Megumi's pregnant and—thanks."

"It's okay," Marui laughs. "I needed one anyways, and some of my books are being translated into new languages so I'll have some money coming. What's got you so worked up you didn't realize the place you were sitting?"

"Junko's teacher wants her to start taking these language classes after school," Niou says. "Everyone in her grade is taking English, but her teacher mentioned learning Spanish_ and_ French."

"She's smart enough."

"She's too smart. She's going to get bored soon and I cannot afford anything else. She only gets tuition because I teach at the high school."

"Rikkaidai's a good school. It was good enough for me."

"You published a book a month after graduating. You were so young that they gave you a pen-name because they didn't think people would believe a teenage wrote those things."

"And?"

"Nothing. Damn genius kids," Niou grumbles. He reaches over and pulls Kyou's blanket up; the toddler is asleep in his carrier. "Kyou's able to walk a lot more now, and he asked me to pick him up earlier."

"Really?"

"He said 'up-py' which is more than I ever got out of Junko or Ayumu. The doctor says he's developing quickly for his age. He's in the ninetieth percentile for his development."

"Whoa."

"Yeah," Niou says with a smile. He hasn't stopped looking at his sleeping child since he finished checking the table.

.

Three months after Niou moves in, Marui finds Niou sitting on the sofa with Junko at three in the morning. Marui can smell hot chocolate and can hear a cartoon running on the television. He comes down the last of the stairs and finds Junko curled up in her father's lap, her white hair a mess. Niou puts a finger to his lips.

Niou wiggles free from his daughter, pulling a blanket up over her and setting his mug on the table. He goes into the kitchen and Marui follows.

"She okay?" Marui asks.

"She had a nightmare after reading one of your books," Niou says. Marui wonders if the book was _The Yeti's Mansion _because that is a weirder one. "She's okay now. Just needed some hot chocolate and her favorite cartoon. Why are you up?"

"I was writing a chapter and decided to get some coffee," Marui says. "I don't want to make it if it'll wake her up."

"Take her back to her bed. I'll start the coffee. I'm going to need up. I have to give a test today and Seiichi's coming to tennis club to show the kids some moves."

"Get the good stuff," Marui says and Niou laughs softly in agreement.

Marui walks over and scoops Junko up into his arms like a bride, and manages to get her back to her bedroom and into her bed. What was once an unused room has become her bedroom—drawings are taped to the walls, her nightstand has stacks of books, and her school work is scattered amongst her dresses. He tucks her tightly under her blanket and brushes her hair out of her face.

"Night, Bunta," she mutters.

"Good night, Junko," he whispers.

He slips out of the room, turns off her light, and returns to the kitchen where Niou is making coffee. He sits on a stool and watches as Niou puts in the coffee grinds.

"I'm making progress on my sequel," Marui says.

Niou leans against the counter and folds his arms across his chest. "She'd die of happiness if you finished that," Niou says seriously. "I caught her up past bedtime reading it, _Songs to Jaguars_ or whatever. I could barely understand that book and she's telling me about its symbols."

"I'd never actually talked to anyone who liked my books before her—besides Jackal and my editor obviously. I guess it helped a little. I have a few chapters now which is more than I've had for three years."

"I like your books." Marui looks at Niou like he's a completely different person. "I use to read them during breaks at school or work, then I read them to Junko when she was a baby. She had quotes from them painted onto her walls. Half of them are above my head, but they're still good."

"I didn't know that."

"Didn't think it needed saying."

"Um, thanks?"

"My daughter loves those things. I should be thanking you."

.

Ayumu's first soccer game is a big event and everyone seems to come to watch him. Marui is pretty sure that half the people in the tiny stands are there for Ayumu—Jackal and his wife and kid, Yagyuu and his pregnant wife, Yukimura and his three daughters, and Ayumu's father and siblings, plus Marui.

"You look nervous," Marui says to Niou as he steals from Junko's pop-corn container. She gaps at him and he smiles. "Stop expecting bad stuff to happen."

"I have a fake leg in my backpack," Niou says. "There are many ways this could go wrong."

"It'll be fine," Marui says, though he is worried too. The teams are made of five to seven year olds, and Ayumu is the only one who is missing a leg, but Marui's so use to seeing it that it doesn't seem out of place. It looks normal.

Niou holds an antsy Kyou in his lap—his seat is beneath the stands in case he falls asleep—and waves at Ayumu when he looks. The kid has the biggest smile in the world as he gets into place.

"Masaharu, it'll be fine," Yagyuu says.

"Ayumu is a good kid," Yagyuu's wife Megumi adds. Her belly is huge and is holding a cardboard container full of nachos. Marui wants to laugh but doesn't. "I heard some of the other boys saying that Ayumu was going to be their secret weapon."

"What does that mean?" Jackal asks.

"I don't want to know," Niou groans.

The game begins and though there is no score, Yukimura is announcing the score from his seat and his daughters are calling out the refs' bogus calls. Half way through the game, Ayumu's team is losing by two points according to Yukimura's score, and Ayumu suddenly trips. There is no fowl, no reason to stop, just a kid tripping. Niou goes stiff.

The other team begins to gather around Ayumu, who is holding the place where knee meets prosthetic. He's saying something that has the referee and the other team interested.

"Ref, are you blind? Call that!" one of Yukimura's daughters shouts.

The referee looks away from Ayumu to the goal where Ayumu's teammates are doing victory dances. The ball is in the net. Ayumu stands up and pushes past the other team to join his friends. He's fine and laughing and dancing. It was a trick.

"Oh my God," Jackal says.

"You have got to be kidding me," Jackal Junior says.

"Masaharu," Yagyuu says. "Did you teach him to do that?"

Niou slowly shakes his head.

"I will never-ever-_ever_ believe him when he says he's brushed his teeth," Marui says because Ayumu is just as much as trickster as his father. "And you were worried," Marui teases, but Niou is laughing too loudly to hear.

.

As winter comes, Marui finds Niou sitting at the dining table with different papers. It's Sunday morning before the kids are awake. Yagyuu is coming to pick up the kids for a day out since it may be the last one for awhile. Megumi's due-date is coming up and Yagyuu is on labor-alert. Marui puts a cup of coffee next to Niou and sits across from him with a pop-tart.

"Looking for apartments?" Marui asks. He spots several newspapers and internet print offs with big sharpie circles.

"I have enough to rent, but I won't have much after that and the holidays are coming," Niou says. "I'm getting a raise once the semester ends because the tennis team is doing well and my kids' test scores are through the roof."

"That's nice."

"It's not enough." Niou crosses out something he had previously circled and picks up his mug. "I wanted to be out of here by now. It's been four months?"

"And a half." Niou frowns into his coffee. "Don't get mad at your drink," Marui says. "It may be easier to leave after the holidays. Prices might be down for New Year sales."

"You're okay with us staying here for the holidays?" Niou asks. "Junko and Ayumu are used to a western Christmas. Yoshiko's Christian and all."

"We'll go get a Christmas tree and make some cookies then." Marui shrugs and kicks back in his chair. "Not really a big deal. I have a lot of work this time of year so you'll be able to do whatever you usually do."

"Like what?"

"Signing pages for books. I do some charity things and go read my books to some kids at hospitals. Last year I went around and helped cleaned up some local libraries. Stuff like that."

"You're Mr. Christmas," Niou says. He sips at his coffee and looks down at the apartment ads. "I want them to have a good Christmas. They've gone through a lot and it's the least I can do."

Marui hums in agreement. Ten minutes later, Junko comes out of her room asking for bear pancakes and the dogs need to be walked.

.

Yagyuu's wife goes into labor at two fourteen in the morning. Marui knows this because Niou breaks the one rule and comes upstairs, barging into his bedroom and shouting at him.

"He wants me there," Niou says. "He thinks he's going to pass out when it comes time to push, and knowing Hiroshi he probably will and he'll hit his head in the process. Can you take the kids to school? You have a car, right?"

"Go," Marui groans into his pillow. "I'll take care of the kids for the day."

"Ayumu has soccer practice even though it's not Sunday—"

"I know."

"—and Junko has her language lessons after school—"

"Yes, yes."

"—and I won't be home, so make sure that Kyou gets his vitamins, and talk to him so he learns new words—"

Marui sits up and throws a pillow at Niou. "Go to the hospital. I'll text you if I need to."

Niou nods frantically and leaves. Marui tries fruitlessly to go back to sleep, eventually getting out of bed at six to make lunch for Junko and Ayumu. He puts Kyou into his carrier, which he is getting too big for, and brings him into the kitchen. He sets Kyou on the sofa near the sleeping dogs.

He finds brown paper bags and some tuba-ware in one of the cabinets he sees Niou open a lot. He puts in some leftover rice and vegetables from last night's dinner into the containers, then adds in some fruit gummies and juice boxes into brown paper bags. He writes their names on the outsides.

Kyou's daycare bag is next to the sofa in the living room and he realizes that he has no idea what Niou puts into it. He finds a list of emergency contacts in a pocket on the side and a key to the loft. There's a spare change of clothes and Marui adds Kyou's favorite toy. Is he supposed to add diapers? He does.

Niou usually packs his work bag after that. Marui pulls out his phone and texts Niou—_Do you need me to call in sick for you?_

He gets a message back seconds later—_Yeah but can you say you'll cover tennis practice? Akaya's coming to teach them some stuff_

_Akaya's back in town?_

_Last week we're all meeting up around New Year's_

_I didn't know that_

_Now you do_

Marui looks up the high school's phone number and calls Niou in sick, then assures them that someone can cover tennis practice and tells them not to cancel. He has them look him up in the old records to prove he isn't some random freak. When he hangs up, Junko and Ayumu are awake.

"Where's Dad?" Ayumu asks as he pulls himself onto the stool. They rarely use the table Marui bought, but he's too overwhelmed to care. "I want fish."

"You're getting cereal because I'll probably burn whatever I try to cook right now," Marui says. "Junko, can you pour milk for you and your brother?"

"Yes."

Marui gets out the bowls and spoons, then finds a half-eaten box of Fruit Loops and takes the milk from the fridge. He takes Kyou out of his carrier and puts him into his chair.

"What does he eat?" Marui asks. He's seen Niou feed Kyou before and has even seen Kyou (poorly) feed himself, but he's never paid that much attention.

"Where's dad?" Ayumu asks again.

"Aunt Megumi's baby is coming and your dad went to help Uncle Hiroshi not pass out," Marui says.

"Dad has things in the fridge for him," Junko says. "He usually gets milk, his special cereal, and some fruit. He needs a snack in his daycare bag."

"Eat your cereal then go and get dressed," Marui says as he opens the fridge. He pushes aside the leftovers and whole foods that are too big for Kyou until he finds tuba-ware containers with Kyou's name and the meal written on it. He picks out KYOU BREAKFAST and KYOU DC SNACK, and finds Kyou's extra healthy cereal where the Fruit Loops were.

Marui sits in front of Kyou's feeding chair and opens up the breakfast container. There's a few small cubes of soft fruit and a small amount of whipped up peanut butter. He pours some cereal onto the eating tray, which probably has a proper name but Marui doesn't know it, and Kyou begins to toss the cereal everywhere.

"No, no, no," Marui says. He picks up a few pieces of cereal and eats them. "Like this."

"Mama."

"Yes, Mama. Now eat like Mama does."

Thankfully Kyou mimics him so Marui can dip some of the fruit cubes into the peanut butter. He sets the fruit next to Kyou's blunted fork spoon contraption and watches as the baby begins to eat. Marui makes sure he drinks his milk from a superhero sippy-cup and tries to keep the mess to a minimum.

"I'm done," Ayumu says. He has a milk mustache and Junko spilled milk all over the counter.

"Go get changed for school then brush your teeth," Marui orders.

"Dad braids my hair every Tuesday," Junko says.

"I thought you did that yourself," Marui says. Junko shakes her head. "I can try. Bring whatever your dad usually uses."

Junko disappears and Marui pulls up a video on hair braiding on youtube. He leaves Kyou to his cereal, whips the counter dry, tosses the dishes in the sink, and puts Kyou's daycare snack into his bag. He's cleaning up Kyou when Junko comes out with a brush and several hairbands. He has her wait on the sofa, finishes with Kyou, and finally gets to Junko's hair after putting Kyou in his play pen.

He brushes out her white hair—still weird—and tries to recall what the girl in the video did. After three poor attempts, he manages something that doesn't look like a bird's nest and ties off the bottom. He spins her around and tells her to smile.

"Go brush your teeth," he says, pointing to the hall. She pouts and runs off. "And tell your brother to stop hiding in the shower and brush his teeth!"

"He's under his bed this time," Junko says.

"Then tell him to get out from under the bed and brush his teeth! I need to get you guys to school."

He barely makes it through the morning alive, then he remembers he has to do just as much in the afternoon. He collapses onto the sofa and sleeps until an alarm goes off and he has to go to tennis practice, pick up Kyou then Ayumu, take Ayumu to soccer practice, and then go pick up Junko from her language lessons.

.

Yagyuu's daughter is born healthy and adorable. Niou comes home from work with the kids, then leaves to go Christmas shopping, and Marui's life becomes a blur of cereal and snot. Things are beginning to calm down when Niou gets a phone call on his day off. Niou comes up to Marui's room, knocks on the door, then walks in.

"You working?" Niou asks.

"I'm a bit stuck on this chapter, so not really."

"Can you come down and watch them for a bit?" Niou is holding his hand over his phone. "And can I stay up here to talk?"

"Yeah, sure."

Marui is halfway down the stairs when he realizes who has called. He sits with the kids and the dogs, helping Kyou roll a ball to Tesla. Ayumu is chasing Aristotle down the hall. He doesn't know how long Niou talks to his wife, but eventually Niou comes down and gathers his children to talk to them.

"You all know that Mommy and Daddy have been having some problems," Niou says and it breaks Marui's heart to hear his voice. "Christmas is coming up and Mom would really like to see you guys. I don't want to decide for you so it's up to you. Do you want to see her?"

Junko and Ayumu don't say anything. Marui pretends not to be listening and makes sure the dogs don't hurt Kyou.

"It's your choice," Niou says. "She says that she misses you and wants to see you and... And it's up to you. You're old enough to chose."

"Mommy hurt Daddy," Ayumu says.

"Yes, yes she did," Niou says softly.

"She said that she never wanted us."

"Where did you hear that?" Niou takes Ayumu by his sides and stares at his son. "Ayumu, tell me," he says gently. "Why would you say that?"

"We heard Mom say it when she kicked you out," Ayumu says.

"Us," Junko mutters. "She kicked us all out. Dad and Ayumu and Kyou and Tesla and Aristotle and—and me too. She kicked us out and said she didn't want us!"

Kyou becomes interested in the scene and goes to walk over, but Marui tugs the toddler into his lap to stop him. Marui feels the need to flee, but he doesn't want to stop Junko or Ayumu from saying what they've probably been too afraid to say for awhile now.

"She did say that," Niou says, "but she was mad and upset. People say things they don't mean when they're upset. She loves you very, very much." Niou sounds ready to cry. Marui doesn't know if Niou is lying or not.

"If she loves us then why isn't she here?" Ayumu asks.

"It's complicated," Niou says.

Junko begins to cry and Ayumu shouts in Niou's face, "I never want to see her!" Then Ayumu has his arms around Niou's neck and Niou is hugging him so tightly that Marui wonders if Ayumu is going to snap in half. Junko buries her face into the back of Niou's shirt as she sobs. Marui lets go of Kyou who wonders over and prods at his father's side.

Marui takes his leave.

.

Marui stays out of the way on Christmas morning until Junko and Ayumu come up to him with a poorly wrapped box. He'd given them presents—he signed a few books for Junko and called in some favors to get other authors to do the same, and got Ayumu some new soccer cleats—but he hadn't expected anything in return. He opens the box and finds a picture frame.

"You can put a picture of us in there," Ayumu says.

"We didn't know what else to get you and Dad wouldn't tell us what you like," Junko says. She looks over her shoulder at Niou, who is playing with Tesla and one of his new toys.

"Thank you," Marui says. "How about we make some cookies?"

The kids fall asleep early after being worked up all day, and Marui and Niou sit drinking beer and watching bad television specials. Marui drinks a little more than he should. He is writing the passages of his book, but they feel vacant. He can't express the feeling he wants to and changing the words isn't helping.

"This is for you," Niou says. He tosses an unwrapped box into Marui's lap and takes a sip of his beer. "Here."

Marui opens the long box and finds the most beautiful fountain pen he's ever seen in his life. The tip is silver and the handle is silver and black with gorgeous carvings. He holds it in his hands, too shocked to say anything, then he remembers that he has something for Niou.

"Now I feel even worse for getting you a crap gift," Marui says. He reaches into his pocket and hands Niou a small box. Niou gives him a strange look as he opens it. It isn't much—three tie clips; one silver, one gold, and one black.

"You mentioned that your tie always gets in your coffee or Kyou's food," Marui says. "Figured I'd save you some ties."

"Thanks." He clinks his bottle against Marui's then turns his attention back to the television. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas."

.

Marui works too late on his book and screws up his sleeping schedule. He wakes up at ten at night and finds Niou reading to Junko in another language down in the living room. Junko corrects him when he says this incorrectly, which is usually every other word if not every word.

"Hi, Bunta," Junko says. "You're up late. Are you working on your book? Can I read it?"

"I am, but you can't. You'll have to wait until it's finished like everyone else."

"What's this word?" Niou says and points at one of her books.

"It means wind," Junko says. She turns around in the sofa, watching as Marui gets a glass of water.

"And this one?" Niou says, pointing again.

"Bunta is better at this," Junko says. "He's a genius like me. He never asks me what all the words mean."

"I doubt he knows what all the words mean. Finish reading this and go to bed, okay? It's already past your bedtime and even a genius needs her sleep," Niou says with a smile. Junko frowns but takes her book and leaves to get ready for bed. Niou flips on the television. "You always got like this when you wrote in school."

"I'm fine. Having the kids around reminds me to eat." Marui gets his water and sits down next to Niou, who stretches his feet out onto the coffee table. "So did I miss anything? Did Sharknado come?"

"No, but Akaya thinks I should try and date someone," Niou says. Marui tries to picture Niou with someone other than Yoshiko but can't. Niou and she have been together since university—until now. "I think the brat likes to play match maker too much."

"Probably," Marui laughs. "He's trying to get me to date this guy from some café. He got Hiroshi and Megumi together, and he introduced Renji and his wife to this kid that they might adopt."

"They've picked a kid already? Damn. They move quickly. How does Akaya even know a kid?"

"Apparently the kid is some tennis prodigy, but he lives in foster care or something. And the boy has a sister and doesn't want to be taken in without her, so they may end up adopting both. The boy is nine, I think, and his sister is four. I don't remember their names."

"Seiichi mentioned that one of his daughter's went out on a date the other week," Niou says. "I have no idea what I'm going to do when Junko starts to date."

"She still thinks that boys have cooties, we have a bit of time before she starts to date." Marui sits next to Niou and flips the channel to a slightly less crapy news program.

"We?" Niou says with a smirk.

"You—whatever." Marui grumbles into his water. "You know what I meant."

"Kyou thinks your his mother. It's we for now."

"How's apartment searching going?" Marui asks.

"I found a few places that I want to check out. I have a few dates set up three weeks from now. I think I'll be able to get a nice place for the kids. Hiroshi's on leave to take care of his kid, but he said that with the way the case is going that Yoshiko may have to pay child support. It looks like I'll get full custody. Hiroshi's a bloody genius."

"That's good. You want me to watch the kids when you scout?"

"Yeah, thanks. If you don't want to I could ask Akaya. He's on my ass to see them again. He wants to teach them tennis."

"I thought Seiichi called that."

"They're fighting over the rights."

"Well, I don't mind. I like them and I don't trust Akaya to teach anyone tennis, let alone kids. We've seen how Seiichi's girls turned out. I don't want Junko to turn into a monster."

Niou laughs. Once he quiets, he says, "Why don't you go out with that guy Akaya knows? I'm going through a divorce but you have on excuse for being alone and pathetic."

"I am not alone and pathetic."

Niou gives him a doubtful look then returns his eyes to the television. "If you're worried about the kids, they don't care. I've already told them that you like guys. Junko asked me if you're like Akaya and Hiyoshi, I said yes, and she asked if you had a boyfriend."

Marui has a sudden moment of how good of a person Niou is and how well he is raising his kids.

"I just don't want to," Marui says. "The last time I dated someone, I went into his horrible writer's block and I'm just now getting out of it. I love writing more than anything in the world. I don't want to lose it again."

"More than my kids?" Niou says.

"No, I didn't mean—"

"I know what you meant."

Marui goes silent, then says, "Do you think you're ready to try dating again? Or do you still love her? You don't have to answer that."

"I love my kids. Do I love her? I don't know. I miss her sometimes, but then I remember what she did and I'm glad she's not here. I could have dealt with the cheating, but she left the kids at daycare or school or other parents' houses and I can't forgive that. I love them."

"They're good kids," Marui says. He feels like he says that a lot but he always means it. Junko and Ayumu and Kyou aren't perfect, but they're good kids and Niou's done a damn good job raising them given the situation.

"You're better with them than she was," Niou says.

"Thanks."

"Yeah."

.

Niou wakes up with a fever one morning and demands that Marui take Kyou out of his room and keep him in a germ-free zone. After making the kids breakfast, Marui goes to check on Niou and wonders if the man is dying in the bathroom. Niou tells him not to come in and it sounds like his head is in a toilet so Marui is on kid duty again, but thankfully it's a Sunday so he doesn't have to run to and from schools.

"Why don't you guys put on your coats and we go to the park?" Marui asks after cleaning up the dishes. "We can take Tesla and Aristotle out. How's that sound?"

Junko ends up reading a Spanish book with Marui; she tries to teach the words to Kyou, who Marui has wrapped up like an eskimo. Ayumu is in his line of vision and is playing soccer with the dogs. They pick up hot chocolate on their way home, and after letting the kids to their own devices, he goes into Niou's room with a cup of orange juice.

"Masaharu," he says and walks towards the lump of blankets on the bed. "I brought you juice."

Niou sits up and he looks like hell. He must have caught a bug from a kid at work because Marui's never seen adult look that sick. He's all sunken eyes and clammy pale skin.

"Kids okay?" Niou asks. "If Kyou gets a fever, call his doctor. The number's in his daycare bag."

"They're fine. Try and rest." Marui gets a few extra pillows from a hall closet and adds them to Niou's bed. "Is there anything you need? Do you want soup or something, because I can ask Jackal to come over with some?"

"I'm okay." Niou shakes his head and his eyes look out of focus.

"Soup?" Marui says, trying again.

"Soup," Niou agrees.

Marui leaves Niou's room and runs straight into Ayumu. The boy is looking at Marui like he had he first arrived almost half a year ago.

"Do you love Dad?" Ayumu asks with a child's innocence.

"Of course I do. He's a good friend. I love you too."

"Junko told me that mommies and daddies love-love each other. Do you love-love Dad? Are you going to be our new Mom?"

Marui squats and rubs up and down Ayumu's arms, hoping his brain comes up with an answer. Niou always seems to know what to say and he says it in a way that a child can understand without talking down to them.

"Dad said you're like Uncle Akaya and Uncle Wakashi," Ayumu goes on. "Do you love-love Dad?"

"Of course," Marui says. At first, he doesn't know if he means it or not, then he realizes that he does. He loves seeing Niou with his kids, and loves watching him sing those little songs while he cooks, and he loves it when he makes Niou smile. "Want to help me make some soup for your dad? I bet it'd taste better if you help. A bit of love always makes soup taste better."

"Really?"

"Yup. Wanna try?"

Ayumu smiles and Marui takes his hand to lead him to the kitchen.

.

Ayumu comes home from school all scraped up with a large mark on his prosthetic. Niou is in a fury about having to leave work early and is trying his best not to scream at Ayumu. He gets on the phone to call the insurance company while Marui cleans Ayumu up in the bathroom. The boy sits on the toilet without his leg and winces whenever Marui dabs a small scrap with cotton ball soaked in peroxide.

"What happened?" Marui asks. "The teachers say that you started it."

"This kid made fun of my leg so I kicked him with it," Ayumu says.

Marui can't stop himself from smiling even though he shouldn't be. "Is that all that happened?" he asks. "I didn't think kids made fun of your leg."

"He was pulling this girl's pigtails and I told him to stop and then he said it."

"So you stood up for someone."

"She punched me afterwards and told me to leave her alone." Ayumu frowns as Marui begins to put on band-aids. Ayumu isn't in that bad of shape; a few scraps from falling down and a bruise on his arm, but nothing major. "She's weird."

"Don't tell your dad, but I'm glad you stood up for someone. That was brave of you. How about I give you a battle scar? Would you like that?"

Ayumu nods quickly.

Marui gets a sharpie out of a drawer and kneels in front of Ayumu's missing leg. He draws jagged black marks and colors in some parts red. He points an arrow to it then writes SHARK BITE. Ayumu grins at it.

"That's so cool!"

"What's cool?" Niou asks as he walks in. He's holding his son's leg at his side and is staring at Marui's doodle. "If he ever gets a tattoo like that, I am going to come after you."

"What's a tattoo?" Ayumu asks.

"Nothing," Niou says, giving Marui a firm look. "We can go into the doctor next week and get you a new leg. You're about due for a check up anyways and since you've probably grown some."

"I've gotten taller?"

"You're a giant," Marui says.

"Dad, can we take a picture of my battle scar?" Ayumu asks.

Marui has a feeling that Niou is going to kill him for this at one point, or he's going to thank him for the picture of Ayumu sitting on the toilet with a sharpie drawn shark bite and a huge smile on his face.

.

Jackal's restaurant is full of kids and old friends who have come together to celebrate Junko's birthday. It's been years since they've all been together and it's a bit overwhelming at first. Junko and her friends are on one half of the restaurant while the rest of them are on the other.

Yagyuu and his wife Megumi even manage to come; they leave their baby (Yagyuu has a wallet full of pictures) with Megumi's sister for the night. Sanada sits with his wife and his small army of children, and Kirihara talks to Yukimura's daughters about tennis while Hiyoshi catches up with Yukimura.

Marui sneaks away from Yanagi and his wife to see Jackal who is busy in the kitchen. He walks past the other chefs and finds his friend decorating a large cake.

"Is that DNA?" Marui asks as he eyes the decorations.

"Masaharu said this is what she wanted. Hang on a sec," Jackal says and turns to shout over his shoulder. "Someone get out the ice-cream! Make sure it's labeled lactose free or we're going to have some problems!"

"How's Jackal Junior?" Marui asks. He dips his finger into a bowl full of icing and licks it clean. "Is he sick or something? I didn't see him out there."

"He's at home. I think he has a crush on one of Seiichi's daughters, or maybe Genchirou's. I can't figure out which. They have too many kids. I'm sure it's one of theirs though. Father's intuition."

"I remember when we had crushes."

"Those were the days," Jackal says. Niou comes in through the kitchen with Ayumu following behind him. Jackal smiles at Ayumu. "Hey, buddy, you want some ice-cream? I think I could let you have some before the girls."

"Dad said you were making the cake and I wanted to watch," Ayumu says. "Bunta told me that soup tastes better with love, and I want to know if it makes cake taste better too."

"When'd you make soup?" Niou asks.

"When you were sick," Ayumu says. "Bunta said he love-loves you and I helped him make soup for you."

"Love-love?" Jackal says. "Is that more than like-like?"

"It's what mommies and daddies have, or Uncle Akaya and Uncle Wakashi."

Marui nearly chokes on his tongue when Niou looks at him over Jackal's science-themed cake. Jackal laughs at Ayumu's innocence.

"Food always tastes better with love," Jackal says. Marui goes to help Ayumu scoop some ice-cream, and the whole time Niou is watching him.

.

Marui spends four days in his office without leaving with the exception of eating. He's re-written a problematic chapter several times now, but no matter how he writes it he doesn't like it. He's about to get up for another coffee break when Niou knocks on the door and lets himself in.

"Kids okay?" Marui asks. "Sorry I haven't seen them. I told Junko I was working and she said she understands. Ayumu called me crazy then said that books are stupid."

"You screamed ten minutes ago," Niou says. "Or Kyou's hit my head so many times that I'm hearing things."

"I scream when I can't write sometimes. I'm still used to working with people in the house. It's weird."

Niou comes in and stands over Marui's shoulder like he used to back in high school. Marui feels the urge to cover his laptop like he used to cover his spirals.

"What part?" Niou asks curiously.

"A big romantic confession in this guys head," Marui says. "Kiss scene, lovey dovey, all that. But no matter how I write it, the kiss just comes out wrong. It's a movie in his head and it just isn't cinematic enough. It's hard to describe."

"The kiss or the build up?" Niou asks. Marui turns in his swivel chair and stairs up at Niou, who shrugs. "I've read all your books. You do build up and the kiss, never just one or the other."

"The build up, I guess." Marui frowns at his laptop. He hasn't been this frustrated since he stopped writing three years ago. "I forget how to write this stuff and it just isn't coming to me."

"Anyway I could help?"

"No. I don't like getting ideas from people because I always feel guilty using them which just gets me into more of a funk."

"What about descriptions, not just ideas?"

Marui looks back at Niou and has no idea what the man is talking about. Niou grabs the arms on his chair and leans into Marui's personal space. Marui holds his breath.

"Ayumu said you love-love me. Is that true?"

"Love-love is a very vague term."

"I've never been with a guy. Never really thought to. I don't identify people by their genitals and I've only ever been with Yoshiko." Niou seems closer than before and Marui still can't breath. His heart is on the edge of a proverbial cliff. "I've been thinking for awhile. You're good with the kids."

"A lot of people are."

"The kids love you."

"Well, they'd warm up to anyone eventually."

"I've known you since we were eleven."

"You've know Seiichi that long and you don't corner him in chairs."

"Bunta," Niou says softly. "I found an apartment. I can move in in four weeks. I haven't told the kids yet. I wanted to ask you first."

"Ask me what?"

"Do you want me to stay?"

"I would probably ask something else," Marui says softly. Niou stares at him and does not move away. Marui wishes words would come to him like they do when he writes.

Niou leans in closer. "And what would that be?"

"Do you want to, maybe, never leave?"

The words come to Marui when Niou closes that last chasm of space between them. It's like waiting for a wave to crack against the sand, or listening to the rumble of thunder and looking for where the lightning will strike. It's like being in the last fleeting moments of a dream, knowing you're going to wake up, and hoping it lasts because what comes next can either be wonderful or terrifying.

Marui wakes from his dream as Niou kisses him. The wave breaks and spreads shells across the sand, and the lightning strikes the sand to form a crystal that seems to defy all standards of beauty. His dream fades, but with Niou's lips against his, he awakes to a wonderful world and hopes that he does not fall back asleep ever again.

.

Sixth months later, Marui walks into the loft with a large, heavy cardboard box. He sets it on the counter and begins to open drawers for box cuter, eventually finding it in the one they keep locked so they kids can't break in. He cuts through the tape and rips open the box.

Arms circle around his waist and his back meets chest. He lifts a book from the box, his fingers gently running over the spine then the cover. His fingers flick through the pages he never thought he would see in print. Lips press against his check.

"Junko went to the nurse and pretended to be sick so she could read this as soon as possible," Niou says. "I can't blame her. You left the last one at a horrible cliffhanger. Does the girl love the boy?"

"Read it and find out," Marui teases. Niou hugs him tighter and rests his head on Marui's shoulder. Marui opens the front of the book and flips towards the author's note.

"I love you," Niou murmurs into his skin. This time, Marui knows the words.

"I love you too."

Marui closes the book, already knowing the author's note by heart.

_For Junko, Ayumu, and Kyou_—_  
For giving me the words I thought I had lost._

_And for Masaharu_—_  
For being the stranger that I let inside._

_Thank you._

* * *

**A/N: I'd love to hear any comments you have :)**


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